High Five (novel)
1999 Paperback cover
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| Author | Janet Evanovich |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Stephanie Plum |
| Genre | Crime |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
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Publication date
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July 16, 1999 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages | 304 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 41002780 |
| Preceded by | Four to Score |
| Followed by | Hot Six |
High Five is the fifth novel by Janet Evanovich featuring the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. It was written in 1999.
Stephanie is dismayed to hear that none of her boss Vinnie's clients has gone FTA, so there is no work for her at the office. When her Uncle Fred goes missing, Stephanie agrees to help look for him. Fred's wife, Stephanie's Aunt Mabel, has no theories - Fred disappeared in the middle of running errands, and she had no idea anything unusual was going on.
The only thing Mabel can't explain is, she went through Fred's desk and found photos of half-opened garbage bags, containing dismembered human body parts. Stephanie sees enough to identify the body as a woman's, but gives the photos to her on-again/off-again boyfriend, Detective Joe Morelli, who says there is not enough to identify the body.
Stephanie retraces Fred's movements on the day he disappeared, including going to the garbage company to complain about a $2 mistake in his bill (according to Stephanie, "Fred's hobby was being cheap"). Before long, a man calling himself "Bunchy" is following her around, claiming to be a bookie that Fred owes.
The only FTA in Vinnie's files is computer programmer Randy Briggs, who, though he is a little person, is frustratingly difficult to apprehend. When he calls Stephanie a "loser" over the phone, she loses her temper, smashes his apartment door open, and subdues him after a fistfight. A short time later, Briggs is bailed out again and moves into Stephanie's apartment against her wishes, saying he has nowhere else to live until his apartment is repaired.
For the first time, Stephanie takes a job with Ranger's security company to make ends meet. Ranger assures her the jobs are morally justifiable, if not entirely legal, but Stephanie is (again) over her head while tagging along with Ranger's men:
To add to all of Stephanie's problems, Morelli informs her that Benito Ramirez, the psychopathic boxer who stalked her in One for the Money has been released from prison. Ramirez begins stalking her again, despite her best efforts to protect herself.
Stephanie is unsettled when Ranger offers her the use of a Porsche Turbo to drive as a "company car" while working for him. She loves the car, but is unable to shake the fear that Ranger will demand something from her in the future - and that she will be unable to refuse. While she is struggling with her reluctance to commit to Morelli, she is livid when she drives by his house and sees him in conversation with his ex-girlfriend, Terry Gilman.
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